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The church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome is famous for its trompe l'oeil ceiling paintings, both in the nave and the 'dome' over the crossing. The nave is particularly impressive— it is as if the church is open unto the heavens, displaying a vision of glorious Catholic domination spread over the four corners of the earth.

There are some great examples of the style here in Chicago done by Richard Haas in homage to the Chicago School of architecture. Check them out when you next have the chance.

On an unrelated note, I was just up at Bear Mountain for a wedding (my first time there). Looking at the view, and some of the place names, I couldn't help but wonder...did you pull any inspiration from that area?

That's not a great shot of it - it's much more realistic if you're looking at it - but 'twas the best I could find online. I don't think that I've seen any of Pugh's work, but I do now have The Eagles stuck in my head. ;)

Finally a Notablog post about artwork! Believe it or not, I have been waiting for one of these.

First, I do love some Trompe l'oeil. It is one of the things that got me interested in art when I was younger. I love the ones painted on streets or sidewalks like this...

Now, to the question I've been dying to ask...

I'm a painter myself. Most of my works are figurative, open ended narratives. I think I do fairly well in the gallery scene with my paintings, but as a long time fan of fantasy and science fiction I've always wanted to try my hand at painting a scene or two from an author's work.

Fantasy and SciFi art were the first things I started really getting into drawing when I was a kid. I bought D&D sets just so I could look through the artwork and I'd stare at Boris Vallejo's Conan ladies for days.

My question is, how does an artist start off getting together with an author to depict a scene? When you weren't a rock star of the fiction world, what would the best way to get in touch with you about trying to paint something have been? Are things handled differently now that ASoIaF is so popular? Do other author's have different ways of handling this or is it all pretty much the same? Can I just send you an awesome painting to enjoy? Haha.

By the way, I absolutely love that one of the things you insisted on for the World book was that it be rich with artwork. As an ASoIaF fan, I would have bought it regardless, but can I just say that the artwork makes me absolutely love it. Now for an illuminated manuscript version of AGoT...

I am glad whenever John Pugh receives some well-deserved international recognition. He has painted some beautiful murals around the area (I live in Palo Alto) and many of his works are "minor" in terms of scale but undeniably meaningful. I am happy that you like his work!

Have you seen he work of Hiraku Cho, a Japanese body painting artist who does bizarre and wonderful body-based trompe l'oiel? A quick imaage search on their name brings up lots of examples, including zippers on arms and backs, buttons on the back an eyes in hands.

The building with the columns inside appears the be the one on the campus of California State University, Chico, and I attended at least one class in it when I went to university there (graduated 1988). It's not even the only such painting in Chico.

Sadly the building that painting was on (Taylor Hall, where I spent much of my time at Chico State) has been torn down and is in the process of being rebuilt. But I heard the artist agreed to come back and repaint it!

Oooh, love that kind of art! Saw a great one, painted on a street, very elaborate "underground" detail. People looked afraid to walk near it! I'll see if I can locate an image for you. If you haven't seen it already.